Sometimes you don’t want to think too hard when playing a game and you just want to blast everything that moves. Endless Shooter and Icarus are two Android games that will satisfy your need.

These games are fast-action space-based shoot-‘em-ups and they are so similar that if you didn’t know that they are different apps, you would think that they were two levels of the same game. (There are actually more apps like these from the same developer and they are all similar.)

The graphics in each title are slightly different and the game play start off different, but once you get into the action, they become very similar.

After playing one of these games and quitting, I often wondered which game I had started. They do have differences and they aren’t identical, but they have many similarities. Switching from one game to another is like changing ships, getting new enemies and a slight change of graphics. The game play is the same.

In each game you control a spaceship at the bottom of the screen. By dragging your finger around the screen it can be moved up, down, left and right. Controlling the game could not be simpler.

Your spaceship fires automatically and deals a constant stream of death to incoming waves of alien fighter ships. They swarm in from the top, left, right and even from the corners below you. They stay in formation as they traverse predefined paths around the screen, and you can sometimes position your ship so that it kills each alien in turn as it passes overhead.

Bullets or missiles, it isn’t clear which, automatically fire from your ship’s guns and they fire so quickly that it looks like a constant stream coming from the front of your ship. It reminded me more of a flashlight or laser than a gun because it is a constant line up the screen.

You have access to a limited number of more powerful weapons, such as one that kills every alien craft on the screen. It is like a panic button for when there are too many incoming alien attackers to handle. One tap and they are all history.

The alien ships drop bombs on you and although your ship has shields, it cannot take too much punishment and sooner or later they will fail. You have to find a balance between firing on the enemy and dodging incoming bombs. Some enemy missiles home in on you and you cannot stay still for a second.

There are also items you can collect, such as diamonds, and they fall down the screen.

Your ship becomes increasingly powerful and the weapons arsenal grows as you progress. In addition to forward missiles, there are also guided missiles that automatically fire and seek out the enemy.

Some shoot-‘em-ups have a series of set levels and you start with the first and work your way through them. Icarus and Endless shooter are not quite the same each time you play. They aren’t very different, but you don’t quite get the same gameplay each time.

The games are not divided into levels that you must master and they never end, which is where the name, Endless Shooter comes from. Every so often a big boss alien appears on the screen that can take a tremendous number of hits before it explodes, but once destroyed, you just carry on playing as new waves of alien ships fly onto the screen.

The screen quickly fills with ships, bullets, missiles, explosions and so on. It was hard to see what was going on at times.

Both games have in-app purchases that enable you to buy various items to help you on your quest to rid the galaxy of alien scum. And there are adverts too. They don’t spoil the fun too much.

Livezen Corp. has several space-based shoot-‘em-ups and the two I tried, Endless Shooter and Icarus are OK. They aren’t brilliant, but they are fast and fun if you like non-stop blasting.